One of my dearest friends was married this week-end and boy was is an adventure! We ended up not leaving home until about 8pm on Friday, and with a 3 hour drive to my parents place in Seattle we didn't hit the hay until almost mid-night. Of course the kids slept most of the drive so they were up at 7 the next morning.
Grrr :-/
At 11am R was off on the ferry to
Bainbridge Island, meeting up with friends S & J for a visit and to bid a job for their realtor. R comes highly recommended from S & J as he has remodeled a few of their homes (I'm so proud of my hubby).
Meanwhile,
Papo and Q laid down for a nap and Monkey,
Grammie and I went to find shoes for me to wear under my bridesmaids dress. This shoe hunt had been in progress for at least a week and a half. I never imagined it would be so hard to find size 10, flat, shimmery gold sandals in August. Apparently, it's a popular style this year! Alas, I found an awesome pair at Old Navy. They're comfy and fit great but the best part is that they were on sale for $6.99! Sweet deal!
So, after picking R up at the ferry terminal He, Monkey and I headed up to
Bellingham for the rehearsal. Leaving Q with
Grammie and
Papo for an afternoon of fun. After rehearsing and having din-din with the wedding party, we headed back to my parents for the night.
Bright and early the next morning the kids were up and at 'em! Monk and I got on our way back to
Bellingham and the rest of the gang went church and would head up after lunch. By the time Monkey and I got to the brides hotel it was noon and POURING down rain, did I mention this was to be an out-door wedding? We got up to the room and found a beautiful bride and a hansom groom, neither of whom were any too happy about the rain. As I laced up the back of this amazing wedding gown (cinching and pulling and tugging) and saw the disappointment in my lovely friend about her dream wedding being completely ruined by this Great Northwest weather, I found myself oh so thankful that I never have to be a bride again!
Lairmont Manor- The venue for what was to be a dream wedding was a dream in itself. This amazing mansion set on acre after acre of lush green forest was surrounded by beautiful flower gardens. The colors were magnificent and as we drove down the drive and pulled into park, Monkey asked me if this was a castle!
It continued to rain all afternoon. When the bride and groom arrived after having their pictures taken (out in the rain), I felt horrible for the bride as she was so incredibly disappointed in the way "her day" was turning out. What was to be a beautiful garden wedding was destine to be an indoor ceremony with two huge vases full of gorgeous red, yellow and red tipped yellow roses. They were beautiful, but not a garden.
It was a beautiful ceremony! The bride and groom wrote their vows and the brides minister cousin officiated. After the big kiss, the new Mr and Mrs went out through the back door of the parlor where they climbed into a horse drawn carriage, and were taken for a stroll through the estate. After their ride the rest of the wedding party and guests were allowed to go for a ride. Of course the four of us went for a ride and boy did we look sharp! All of us dressed in our formal attire, I hope that photographer got some shots of us! The kids each had more than one opportunity to ride in the carriage, I guess people like you more when you're a cute little person!
The reception was great; the food- phenomenal, the wine- incredible, the music and dancing- fantastic, the kids leaving at 7 with my parents- unbelievably freeing and the new couple running down the front walk that was lined with guests holding lit sparklers was simply stupendous!
All things considered, this was a pretty magical evening!
We stayed that night in a condo in Birch Bay. We didn't see much of the town but it seemed quaint. Once again, the kids got up at 7am and once again, so did we! After breakfast I went back to bed and the rest of the family went down to the indoor/outdoor pool. By the time they had turned to prunes, it was about 10 and my sleep was interrupted by the excitement and anticipation of Monkey getting ready for her first trip to a water park. It was also Q's first trip, however he had no idea what a water park was!
Birch Bay Waterslides is a really great water park. We had so much fun, although, I am so sore today! The kids had a fun time in the
kiddy area as well as going down the big slides with us. By 2pm we were all so tired we could hardly move and decided to call it a day.
We were on the road home by 2:30 with great hope of being home by bedtime or shortly after. My mom called around 4:30 or 5 and said that traffic on I-5 was backed up for miles due to rain, hail, and funnel clouds of all things! My folks were kind enough to invite us to stop for dinner and a rest, I'm sure it was just awful for them to have to spend more time with their grand babies! We left there about 8:30 and it was a long drive home. But it was nice to not have interruptions from our sound sleeping kids! At about 12:05 our heads met our pillows which made for a beautiful end to a crazy long week-end!
I surprised Q with this sweet turtle costume.
The Goose LOVES camping!
R got a hold of my camera. Hot momma, just love the outdoorsy look.
The Goose taking a nap, comfy huh!?!
My good lookin' hubby!
DeOgie enjoying the great outdoors.
Our friend the banana slug, super slimy!
What a boy! Q really enjoyed playing in the rocks.
G, A and H
This picture is priceless. The look on H's face reminds me of the song "waitin' on a woman"!
Mean ole rooster!
Cousin G
Miss A LOVES to model!
Muscle man!
